December 28, 1973: The Endangered Species Act

December 28, 1973: The Endangered Species Act becomes law. It was introduced into Congress by Senator Harrison Williams of New Jersey. It passed the Senate, 92-0; and the House of Representatives, 355-4.

This was one of many Democratic Party ideas that President Richard Nixon realized were not only good policy, but good politics, and should be signed into law. He signed a few of those, including the 1970 creation of the Environmental Protection Agency, which would enforce the Endangered Species Act, so he could claim those issues for himself, taking them away from the Democrats in the 1972 election. But, regardless of how Watergate was going to turn out, he was now term-limited, so he was supporting this bill on policy grounds alone.

Ironically, it would be Williams, not Nixon, who would go to prison, as a result of his participation in the ABSCAM scandal of the early 1980s. First elected to the House in 1952, and to the Senate in 1958, he was convicted of bribery and conspiracy in 1981. He resigned from the Senate on March 11, 1982, rather than face an expulsion vote. He served 2 years in prison, and died in 2001.

*

December 28, 1973 was a Friday. Baseball was out of season. One college bowl game was played: Unranked Georgia upset Number 18 Maryland, 17-16, in the Peach Bowl at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

There were 5 games played in the NBA:

* The Detroit Pistons beat the Capital Bullets, 102-93 at Cobo Hall (now Huntington Place) in Detroit. The Bullets would rename themselves the Washington Bullets the next season, and the Washington Wizards in 1997.

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Atlanta Hawks, 118-94 at the Chicago Stadium.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Houston Rockets, 127-111 at the Hofheinz Pavilion (now the Fertitta Center) in Houston.

* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Phoenix Suns, 119-107 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

* And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 110-93 at the Seattle Center Coliseum.

There were 3 games in the American Basketball Association:

* The New York Nets lost to the Utah Stars, 107-97 at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City, Utah.

* The Virginia Squires beat the Carolina Cougars, 97-89 at the Hampton Coliseum outside Norfolk in Hampton, Virginia.

* And the Indiana Pacers beat the Memphis Tams, 91-86 at the Indiana State Fair Coliseum (now the Corteva Coliseum) in Indianapolis. George McGinnis led all pro scorers on the night with 37 points.

There were 3 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Islanders played the California Golden Seals to a tie, 4-4 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 3-1 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* And the Minnesota North Stars beat the Vancouver Canucks, 5-3 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.

And there were 2 games played in the World Hockey Association. The New York Golden Blades beat the Vancouver Blazers, 5-3 at Madison Square Garden. And the Chicago Cougars beat the Quebec Nordiques, 6-4 at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago.

December 26, 1973: "The Exorcist" Premieres

December 26, 1973: The horror film The Exorcist premieres, based on the 1971 novel by William Peter Blatty. It wasn't quite as scary as what President Richard Nixon had been doing the last 5 years, but it was close.

The story takes place in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn) is an actress with a 12-year-old daughter named Regan (Linda Blair). She becomes violent, but doctors can find nothing physically wrong. A demon named Pazuzu (voiced by Mercedes McCambridge) possesses Regan, and claims to be the Devil, and that she will remain in possession of Reagan until Regan's body dies a natural death.

A Catholic ceremony called an exorcism is called for. It is performed by Father Damien Karras (Jason Miller) and Father Lanester Merrin (Max von Sydow). Merrin dies in the attempt, and Karras physically beats Regan, demanding that the demon take him instead. It works, and Karras hurls himself out the window to his death, leaving Regan free.

The Exorcist became the 1st horror film nominated for Best Picture. This was 1 of 10 awards for which it was nominated, also including Best Director for Friedkin, Burstyn as Best Actress, and Blair was Best Supporting Actress. But it won only 2: Best Adapted Screenplay for Blatty, and Best Sound for Robert Knudson and Chris Newman.

Blair, who turned 14 a month after the film's premiere, ended up typecast in "troubled teen" roles, including a 1977 sequel, Exorcist II: The Heretic. By 1979, she had grown out of those roles, and played adult roles in horror and exploitation films throughout the 1980s. She starred with Leslie Nielsen in the 1990 parody film Repossessed, and had an uncredited role as a reporter in the 1996 horror tribute Scream.

In 2022, at age 63, she is an animal-rights activist, running a ranch outside Los Angeles, which serves as a sanctuary for formerly abused animals, and has published a vegan cookbook.

*

December 26, 1973 was a Wednesday. Baseball was out of season. The NFL was between rounds of its Playoffs. There were 7 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Detroit Pistons, 96-91 at Cobo Hall (now Huntington Place) in Detroit.

* The Capital Bullets -- the name the Washington Bullets, now Wizards, used only for their 1st season in the D.C. area -- beat the Chicago Bulls, 82-81 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 145-118 at The Omni in Atlanta. Lou Hudson scored 35 points for the Hawks.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Buffalo Braves, 125-123 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium. Garfield Heard scored 36 points and grabbed 17 rebounds for the Braves, to no avail.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 123-110 at the Milwaukee Arena. In 1974, it was renamed the Milwaukee Exposition, Convention Center and Arena, or "The MECCA." Since 2014, it has been named the UW-Panther Arena. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scored 38 points.

* The Houston Rockets beat the Kansas City-Omaha Kings, 110-95 at the Hofheinz Pavilion (now the Fertitta Center) in Houston.

* And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 129-105 at the Seattle Center Coliseum.

There were 5 games played in the American Basketball Association:

* The New York Nets lost to the Carolina Cougars, 105-95 at the Greensboro Coliseum. Julius "Dr. J" Erving scored 32 points in defeat.

* The Virginia Squires beat the Denver Rockets, 118-113 at The Scope in Norfolk, Virginia.

* The Kentucky Colonels beat the Indiana Pacers, 106-78 at Freedom Hall in Louisville.

* The Memphis Tams beat the San Antonio Spurs, 96-95 at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis.

* And the Utah Stars beat the San Diego Conquistadors, 102-98 at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City. This was Wilt Chamberlain's only season as a professional head coach, and he wanted to play for San Diego as well, but a court ruled that his contract meant that, in this season, he could only play for the Lakers. After the season, he resigned as coach and retired as a player.

There were 6 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 2-1 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New York Islanders lost to the Minnesota North Stars, 1-0 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat their arch-rivals, the Montreal Canadiens, 9-2 at Maple leaf Gardens in Toronto. Lanny McDonald was the only Leaf with 2 goals.

* The Detroit Red Wings and the Pittsburgh Penguins played to a tie, 2-2 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit.

* The Chicago Black Hawks and the Los Angeles Kings played to a tie, 3-3 at the Chicago Stadium.

* The Vancouver Canucks beat the California Golden Seals, 6-4 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.

* And the Boston Bruins, the St. Louis Blues, the Buffalo Sabres and the Atlanta Flames were not scheduled.

And there were 3 games played in the World Hockey Association:

* The Vancouver Blazers beat the Cleveland Crusaders, 5-3 at the Cleveland Arena.

* The New England Whalers beat the Houston Aeros, 3-2 in overtime at the Sam Houston Coliseum in Houston.

* And the Winnipeg Jets beat the Chicago Cougars, 4-2 at the Winnipeg Arena. 

December 20, 1973: Bobby Darin Dies

December 20, 1973: Singer Bobby Darin dies shortly after heart surgery at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Los Angeles.

As a young man, he told people that he would be a legend by age 25. To those close to him, he said he had to do that, because he didn't think he would live to be 30.

He was ahead of the game: His recording of "Mack the Knife" made him an all-time music legend when he was just 23. But he wasn't off by nearly enough in the other direction: He died at 37.

Walden Robert Cassotto was born on May 14, 1936 in Manhattan, and grew up in The Bronx. He grew up believing that his mother, Nina, was his sister; and that her parents, Polly and Sam -- a soldier in what would become the Genovese crime family and once close to boss Frank Costello -- were his parents.

In 1968, following the assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy, whom Bobby had gotten close to, he considered running for office himself. His mother knew that the media would investigate him, so she told him the truth before they did. Already very troubled by what was going on in the world, it devastated him. She never told him who his biological father was, but before she died in 1983, she told other relatives that she had a fling with Anthony Grillo, another associate of the Genovese family.

Bobby was brilliant -- and he knew it, and told anyone who would listen, which rubbed people the wrong way. He was a multi-talented musician, an expert guitarist, drummer, trumpeter, trombonist and harmonica player. And he was a great dancer.

He knew that if he went by "Bobby Cassotto," it would be tough for him to make it. One night, he was riding in a cab, past a Chinese restaurant named MANDARIN, with part of the sign's neon out, so that it read "DARIN." He liked the sound of "Bobby Darin," and kept it.

He got his musical start writing songs for Connie Francis. It's been suggested by people who knew both of them that each was the other's one true love. But Connie's manager wouldn't allow them to get married. And since that managers was her father, George Franconero, and he had a gun, and threatened Bobby with it when both singers were backstage before appearing on The Jackie Gleason Show in 1957, that was it.

In 1958, Bobby had his 1st big hit, with "Splish Splash." He followed it with rockers "Queen of the Hop" and "Dream Lover." He was young, handsome and talented, seemingly perfect for the rock and roll generation. But his heart was in the older music, in the style of Frank Sinatra. He used rock as a springboard for what he really wanted to do.

And one of those things was to sing show tunes. In 1959, he recorded "Mack the Knife," from The Threepenny Opera by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht. He used the same not-quite-right lyrics used by Louis Armstrong in 1956, including mentioning Lotte Lenya, who was married to Weill and a star of the original version, but not one of the characters pursued by Macheath.

Bobby's recording of the song hit Number 1 in America on October 5, 1959, and stayed there for 9 weeks. It went on to become the biggest-selling record in New York City history, because it was something that teenagers and their parents could agree on.

He had several more hits, and began an acting career. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for playing a soldier with post-traumatic stress disorder in Captain Newman, M.D. He married actress Sandra Dee, and they had a son, Dodd Darin.

But times changed, and he wasn't able to change with them. He and Sandra split up. He tried making new music, but had only one hit, with Tim Hardin's "If I Were a Carpenter." He stopped wearing a toupee, grew a mustache, and wore denim. People didn't want Bobby Darin anymore.

Or maybe they didn't want a Bobby Darin who looked like a hippie. In 1972, with the nostalgia wave for the 1950s underway, he went back to being the man people knew, wearing a tuxedo and a toupee, but not a mustache, and sang whatever he felt like, but in a show-tune style. NBC gave him a variety show that ran for 20 episodes, and he was a hit again. He also made an appearance on The Flip Wilson Show, playing the Devil opposite Wilson's Reverend Leroy.

But his health finally caught up with him. At the age of 8, he suffered from rheumatic fever, which weakened his heart, and led him to believe he wouldn't make to to age 30. By the time he did, he was already out of favor. In 1971, before full artificial hearts were invented, he had two artificial valves implanted.

Sometimes, during taping his show, he would be administered oxygen during commercial breaks, and afterward. Once, he had to be rushed to the hospital right after taping. On his last episode, on April 27, 1973, he could be seen shaking his hand, as if he was trying to get something off it. His condition had hurt his circulation, and he was trying to get it going again.

Later that year, after failing to take antibiotics to protect his heart before a dental visit, Darin developed sepsis, an overwhelming systemic infection, which further weakened his body, and affected one of his heart valves. On December 11, he checked himself into Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Los Angeles, to repair his artificial heart valves. On the night of December 19, he went into surgery, and it lasted 6 hours. But he was too weak, and died early on the morning hours of December 20. He was 37 years old.

Darin's last wish in his will was that his body be donated to science for medical research, and his remains were transferred to the UCLA Medical Center shortly after his death. So there is no final resting place for Bobby Darin.

Had he survived the surgery, not only might have lived long enough to have better valves, or even a full artificial heart, but he would have fully benefited from the nostalgia for his era, and become a bigger star than ever. Instead, he was partly forgotten. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame began inducting members in 1986, and, with their 25-year eligibility rule, he was already eligible. It took until 1990 for him to be elected, with Dodd Darin accepting his father's award.

It took until 2004 for a film to be made of his life, with Dodd and Kevin Spacey producing Beyond the Sea. Spacey played Bobby, even though he was already too old to play him at 37, much less at 20, and the film bombed. But Dodd, Sandra Dee (who was played by Kate Bosworth, and who lived just long enough to see the film's premiere) and Bobby's former manager, Steve Blauner (played by John Goodman), all praised Spacey's performance.

The closing graphics said, "Walden Robert Cassotto died on December 20, 1973. He was 37. Bobby Darin lives."

*

December 20, 1973 was a Thursday. Baseball was out of season. The NFL was between its regular season and its Playoffs. The American Basketball Association had no games scheduled, and the NBA had only 1: The Capital Bullets beat the Kansas City-Omaha Kings, 98-92 at the Kansas City Municipal Auditorium.

The Who beat the What? In their 1st season after moving to the Washington, D.C. market, 1973-74, the the Baltimore Bullets used the name "Capital Bullets." The became the Washington Bullets the next season, and the Washington Wizards in 1997.

The Cincinnati Royals moved in 1972, splitting their home schedule between the K.C. Municipal Auditorium and the Omaha Civic Auditorium in Nebraska, and were named the Kansas City-Omaha Kings. This remains the only team ever to play major league home games in Nebraska. In 1975, they began playing all their home games in Kansas City. In 1985, the Kansas City Kings moved to Sacramento.

There were no games scheduled by the World Hockey Association. There were 4 played in the NHL:

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the New York Rangers beat the Detroit Red Wings, 5-2 at Madison Square Garden.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 6-5 at the Boston Garden.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Vancouver Canucks, 9-3 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia. Bobby Clarke, Ross Lonsberry and Bill Clement each scored 2 goals.

* And the Montreal Canadiens played the Buffalo Sabres to a tie, 2-2 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

December 16, 1973: The O.J. 2,000 Game

December 16, 1973: O.J. Simpson sets the NFL's single-season rushing yards record, becoming the 1st player to rush for 2,000 yards in a season.

In 1934, Beattie Feathers of the Chicago Bears became the 1st NFL player to rush for 1,000 yards in a season. His 1,004 yards stood as the record until 1947, when Steve Van Buren of the Philadelphia Eagles raised it to 1,008. In 1949, Van Buren broke his own record, with 1,146.

Jim Brown played 9 seasons in the NFL, 1957 to 1965, all with the Cleveland Browns, and led the League in rushing yards in 8 of them. Jim Taylor of the Green Bay Packers led in 1962. In 1958, Brown broke Van Buren's record by plenty, with 1,527. In 1963, with the schedule having been increased from 12 to 14 games, he raised the record to 1,863. In 2 years, he had increased the record by 33 percent; within 8 years, by 62 percent.

Simpson arrived in professional football in 1969, with the Buffalo Bills, having won the Heisman Trophy the year before and led USC to the National Championship the year before that. But his 1st 3 seasons were a bit of a struggle. In 1972, he rushed for 1,251 yards, leading the NFL, and the most by any player in 7 years, since Brown in his last season.

The Bills began the 1973 season in a new stadium, in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, New York. It was then named Rich Stadium, and is now named Highmark Stadium. Simpson started off as well as anyone could have hoped for, rushing for 250 yards.

This broke the single-game record of 247, then held by Willie Ellison of the Los Angeles Rams in a 1971 game. In 1976, Simpson would raise that record to 273, but it was broken a year later when Walter Payton rushed for 275. Today, the record is 296, set by Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings in 2007.

Simpson ran for 103 yards in Week 2, 123 in Week 3, 171 in Week 4, and 166 in Week 5. But in Week 6, he was held to 55 yards by the defending Champion Miami Dolphins and their "No-Name Defense." In Week 7, against a Kansas City Chiefs defense that had once been great but was now aging, Simpson ran for 157. That gave him 1,025 for the season, at the halfway mark. Brown's record of 1,863 and even 2,000 now seemed within reach.

Then Simpson went into a slump. He only got 79 yards in Week 8 and 99 in Week 9. He bounced back in Week 10, getting 120. In Week 11, he got 124. In Week 12, he got 137. That got him 1,584. And in Week 15, he got 219. That gave him 1,803. So, in the season's final game, he needed 61 for a new record, and 197 for 2,000.

Fortunately for Simpson and the Bills, they were playing the New York Jets. Unfortunately, it would be at Shea Stadium, in cold air, with snow falling, on a frozen field. But the Bills were used to that kind of weather back home, so it didn't bother them much -- even if Simpson himself was a San Francisco native who'd made his name at USC, in the steady warm weather of Los Angeles, on the pristine grass field at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

The result was not really in doubt. The game was 7-7 at the end of the 1st quarter, by which point Simpson had already surpassed Brown's single-season record, needing just 8 carries to do it. The Bills pulled ahead to 21-7 by the half, including a touchdown run by Simpson.

The Bills led 28-7 after 3 quarters, and the final was 34-14. In case you're a Jet fan who is wondering: For the Jets, who finished 4-10, Joe Namath completed 13 out of 30 passes, for 206 yards, 2 touchdowns and no interceptions. But he also got sacked 3 times.

With 5 minutes left, Bills quarterback Joe Ferguson handed off to Simpson, and he ran up the middle, gaining 7 yards. It gave him 200 yards even for the day, and 2,003 yards for the season. The Bills carried him off the field, and a crowd of 47,740, mostly Jet fans, gave him a standing ovation.

This turned out to be the last game as an NFL head coach for the Jets' Wilbur "Weeb" Ewbank. He had led the Baltimore Colts to the NFL Championship in 1958 and '59. It had been only 5 seasons since he and Namath had led the Jets to win the Super Bowl, but it now seemed very far away.

The Bills also became the 1st NFL team to rush for over 3,000 yards in a season. At a postgame press conference, Simpson -- because of his initials, sometimes called "Orange Juice" or just "Juice" -- introduced each member of the offensive line, who called themselves "The Electric Company," because, "We make the Juice flow."

Let the record show that they were: Left tackle Dave Foley, left guard Reggie McKenzie, center Mike Montler, right guard Joe DeLamielleure, and right tackle Donnie Green. DeLamielleure would eventually join Simpson in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. (Montler died in 2018, Green in 2019. As of the 2022 NFL season, Foley, McKenzie and DeLamielleure are still alive.)

The following season, their 1st season with the "charging" buffalo on their helmets instead of the standing one they'd had since their 1960 inception, the Bills made the Playoffs. Although he caught a touchdown pass in the AFC Divisional Playoff, the Bills lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers, in what turned out to be the only Playoff game Simpson ever appeared in.

In a way, Simpson was unlucky: For all his personal success, as a player, an actor, and a commercial pitchman, he arrived in Buffalo just as the Dolphins were becoming the team that would dominate the AFC Eastern Division, which they remained until the mid-1980s, by which point Simpson was in the Hall of Fame, a sideline analyst for NFL games on NBC, and still doing commercials, especially for Hertz Rent-a-Car, sometimes with golf legend Arnold Palmer.

And he was popular. Still good-looking. Charming. For a lot of people, including myself, O.J. Simpson had been a hero for all or most of their lives.

And if he, rather than his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman, had died on June 12, 1994, it would have been a shock, but not the greater shock that we all got. Though it's likely that the awful things he had already done by that point would have come out eventually.

The film The Dark Knight featured Aaron Eckhardt as fictional District Attorney Harvey Dent, who said, "You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain." And he went on to prove it.

The film The Sandlot featured Art LaFleur as the ghost of Babe Ruth, saying, "Heroes get remembered, but legends never die."

O.J. Simpson was a hero. He is a legend. But it's worth remembering that not all legends are heroic ones, or have happy endings.

The O.J. 2000 Game remains considerably more memorable than the one in which the record O.J. set was broken, by Eric Dickerson of the Los Angeles Rams. How much more memorable? This much: I had to look up not only the date, but the year that it happened. And I was just short of my 15th birthday at the time, so I remember it having happened, though I wasn't watching as it happened.

It was December 9, 1984: The Rams beat the Houston Oilers, 27-16 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium), and, with 215 yards, Dickerson surpassed Simpson, finishing the game with 2,007. There was 1 more week to play, and in the season finale, he ran for 98, finishing the year with 2,105.

This remains the NFL record. In 1985, Herschel Walker ran for 2,411 yards for the New Jersey Generals of the United States Football League. But, just as Dickerson needed a 15th game to surpass Simpson (O.J. still holds the record for most rushing yards in the 1st 14 games of a season), Walker played an 18-game season. What's more, the USFL was not highly regarded. Dickerson himself said, "The difference is, I did it in the majors, and he did it in the minors." The next year, Walker came to the NFL, with the Dallas Cowboys. His peak total in the NFL was 1,514 yards, in 1988.

There have now been 8 2,000-yard rushing seasons in NFL history. Since Simpson and Dickerson: Barry Sanders had 2,053 for the 1997 Detroit Lions, Terrell Davis had 2,008 for the 1998 Denver Broncos, Jamal Lewis had 2,006 for the 2003 Baltimore Ravens, Chris Johnson had 2,006 for the 2009 Tennessee Titans, Adrian Peterson had 2,097 for the 2012 Vikings, and Derrick Henry had 2,027 for the 2020 Titans.

(UPDATE: Saquon Barkley had 2,005, in a 17-game season in which he was held out for the 17th game to protect him from injury, for the 2024 Philadelphia Eagles. Counting the Playoffs and the Super Bowl, he had 2,504, an all-time record, breaking the 1998 mark of Davis, 2,468.)

Oddly, while Lewis and Peterson would both eventually break (and Peterson still holds) the record for most rushing yards in a game, neither did it in the season in which they rushed for over 2,000 yards. Simpson did (in 1973) -- and didn't (in 1976, when he raised the single-game record).

For comparison's sake: Jim Brown's highest single-game total was 237; Walter Payton, the 1st man to rush for more yards in a game than Simpson (275), and eventually the NFL's all-time rushing leader, topped out at 1,852 yards in a season; and Emmitt Smith, who surpassed Payton and remains the all-time rushing leader, topped out at 237 for a game and 1,773 for a season.

*

December 16, 1973 was a Sunday. These other games were played in the NFL:

* The New York Giants lost to the Minnesota Vikings, 31-7 at the Yale Bowl in New Haven, Connecticut. (This was after the old Yankee Stadium was renovated, but before Giants Stadium was completed.)

* The Baltimore Colts beat the New England Patriots, 18-13 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.

* The Washington Redskins beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 38-20 at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington.

* The Atlanta Falcons beat the New Orleans Saints, 14-10 at Atlanta Stadium. (It was renamed Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium in 1975.)

* The Miami Dolphins beat the Detroit Lions, 34-7 at the Orange Bowl in Miami.

* The Green Bay Packers beat the Chicago Bears, 21-0 at the old Soldier Field in Chicago.

* The Dallas Cowboys beat the football version of the St. Louis Cardinals, 30-3 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the San Diego Chargers, 33-6 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Cincinnati Bengals beat the Houston Oilers, 27-24 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The Los Angeles Rams beat the Cleveland Browns, 30-17 at the Los Angeles Coliseum.

* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the San Francisco 49ers, 37-14 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

* The Oakland Raiders beat the Denver Broncos, 21-17 at the Oakland Coliseum.

* And there was no Monday Night Football game that week.

There were 4 games played in the NBA:

* The Kansas City-Omaha Kings beat the Detroit Pistons, 105-104 at the Kansas City Municipal Auditorium.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 115-110 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 121-98 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum.

* And the Phoenix Suns beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 113-109 at the Seattle Center Coliseum.

There were 3 games played in the American Basketball Association:

* The New York Nets beat the Utah Stars, 129-109 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Memphis Tams, 85-80 at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis.

* And the Kentucky Colonels beat the San Diego Conquistadors, 106-101 at the San Diego Sports Arena. (It's now named the Pechanga Arena.)

There were 7 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Chicago Black Hawks, 6-1 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New York Islanders lost to the Philadelphia Flyers, 4-0 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Boston Bruins beat the California Golden Seals, 5-3 at the Boston Garden.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Buffalo Sabres, 5-2 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Atlanta Flames, 2-1 at The Omni.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Vancouver Canucks, 7-5 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit.

* The Montreal Canadiens, the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Los Angeles Kings and the Minnesota North Stars were not scheduled.

And there were 6 games in the World Hockey Association:

* The Edmonton Oilers beat the Jersey Knighs, 7-6 at the Cherry Hill Arena in the Philadelphia suburb of Cherry Hill, Camden County, New Jersey.

* The Chicago Cougars beat the New England Whalers, 3-2 at the Boston Garden.

* The Quebec Nordiques beat the Toronto Toros, 4-3 in overtime at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Cleveland Crusaders and the Houston Aeros played to a tie, 2-2 at the Sam Houston Coliseum in Houston.

* The Minnesota Fighting Saints beat the Winnipeg Jets, 3-2 at the Winnipeg Arena.

* The Los Angeles Sharks beat the Vancouver Blazers, 5-3 at the Los Angeles Sports Arena.

December 13, 1973: John Cappelletti's Heisman Speech

As a native of New Jersey, and a fan of the football team at Rutgers University, I loathed Penn State University, their Nittany Lions, and their head coach, Joe Paterno, long before it was cool. But they have provided perhaps the greatest speech any college football player has ever given.

December 13, 1973: Penn State running back John Cappelletti wins the Heisman Trophy, as yet the only Nittany Lion so honored. His acceptance speech transcended sports.

Born in 1952 in the Philadelphia suburb of Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, he was apparently no relation to New England Patriots legend Gino Cappelletti. He graduated from the storied Monsignor Bonner High School. He did not play for Penn State in his freshman season, 1970, because the NCAA did not let freshmen play on the varsity until 1972. He was a defensive back in his sophomore season, 1971, because the starting running back slots were occupied by Franco Harris and Lydell Mitchell, who went to 12 Pro Bowls between them. He did start as a junior in 1972.

In 1973, helping Penn State complete an undefeated regular season, he rushed for 1,522 yards and scored 17 touchdowns in 11 games. Paterno would later call him the best player he ever coached. Ohio State also went through the regular season undefeated, but they had 3 players splitting the votes that only 1 would have gotten: Offensive tackle John Hicks finished 2nd, sophomore running back Archie Griffin finished 5th, and linebacker Randy Gradishar finished 6th.

Giving his acceptance speech at the Downtown Athletic Club in Manhattan, after having been seated next to newly-sworn-in Vice President Gerald Ford, himself an All-American center at the University of Michigan in 1935, Cappelletti said:

I'm very happy to do something like this. I thought about it since the Heisman was announced 1- days ago, and this is to dedicate a trophy that a lot of people earned, I've earned, my parents and the people I've mentioned, and numerous other people that are here tonight and been with me for a long time.

The youngest member of my family, Joseph, is very ill. He has leukemia. If I can dedicate this trophy to him tonight, and give him a couple days of happiness, this is worth everything.

I think a lot of people think that I go through a lot on Saturdays and during the week, as most athletes do, and you get your bumps and bruises, and it is a terrific battle out there on the field. Only for me, it is on Saturdays, and it's only in the Fall. For Joseph, it is all year 'round, and it is a battle that is unending with him. And he puts up with much more than I'll ever put up with. And I think that this trophy is more his than mine, because he has been a great inspiration to me.

At the Heisman ceremony. Left to right:

Anna, Joey, John Jr., John Sr.

It was similar to the speech that Gale Sayers gave in New York in 1970, upon receiving the NFL's George S. Halas Most Courageous Player Award, named for the owner of his team, the Chicago Bears. Despite having led the League in rushing after surgery on both knees in 1969, Sayers dedicated the award to an even more courageous teammate, running back Brian Piccolo, who was dying of cancer.

Cappelletti's speech brought those big tough football men to tears. Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, the famed "TV priest" of the 1950s, had been asked to deliver the ceremony's benediction. He told a national TV audience, "There is no need for a benediction. God has already blessed you with John Cappelletti." Between this, and the Italian ancestry of both player and head coach, the viewing audience could have been excused for thinking that, like Notre Dame, Penn State was a Catholic school, instead of a State school.

(I used to make that same mistake with Temple University, thinking it was either Catholic or Jewish. Villanova, St. Joseph's and La Salle are Catholic schools in or around Philadelphia, but Temple is not.)

Despite their undefeated record, being an independent meant that Penn State meant that they had no Conference Championship to play for, and they didn't play a single ranked team until their Thanksgiving Saturday matchup with arch-rival University of Pittsburgh, and even they were only ranked Number 20. Penn State won that game, but remained at Number 6. In Cappelletti's last college game, Penn State beat Louisiana State University (LSU) in the Orange Bowl, but stayed Number 6 in the last poll. For the 3rd time in the last 6 years, the Nittany Lions had gone undefeated for an entire season, and yet were denied the National Championship. Not until 1982 would they be awarded one.

Joey Cappelletti hung on until 1976, at the age of 13. In 1977, the film Something for Joey was made about the brothers.

John Cappelletti played for the Los Angeles Rams from 1974 to 1979, and the San Diego Chargers from 1980 to 1983. But, like so many Heisman winners, his professional career was a disappointment, in his case due to injuries. The Rams reached Super Bowl XIV in the 1979-80 season, but Cappelletti was unable to play in it.

He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame, the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame, the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame, and the Orange Bowl Hall of Honor. On September 7, 2013, at their home opener, Penn State honored their 1973 football team, and retired Cappelletti's Number 22. He remains the only Penn State athlete to have his number retired.

Cappelletti moved to Laguna Niguel, California, with his wife Betty and 4 sons. Betty's sister is the daughter of another Heisman Trophy winner, Alan Ameche, who won the Trophy with Wisconsin in 1954, and starred in the NFL for the Baltimore Colts.

UPDATE: In 2023, on the 50th Anniversary of the award and the speech, Cappelletti was interviewed. He said, "The speech gave me an opportunity to express some things I think on all our behalf’s. Just what we were feeling. I don’t think even I expected it to come out like that. It’s something you can’t really rehearse. It was just a feeling at the time, the feeling of all my family, not just myself."

*

December 13, 1973 was a Thursday. Baseball was out of season. Football was in midweek. There were 2 games in the NBA. The Chicago Bulls beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 97-94 at the Milwaukee Exposition & Convention Center Arena, a.k.a. The MECCA. (It's now named the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.) And the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Phoenix Suns, 119-108 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

There were 2 games in the American Basketball Association. The San Antonio Spurs beat the Virginia Squires, 96-94 at the Scope in Norfolk, Virginia. And the San Diego Conquistadors beat the Memphis Tams, 107-104 at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis.

There were 4 games in the NHL:

* The New York Islanders lost to the Los Angeles Kings, 3-2 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Minnesota North Stars, 4-2 at the Boston Garden.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the St. Louis Blues, 7-3 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit.

* And the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Atlanta Flames, 6-1 at The Omni in Atlanta.

And there was 1 game in the World Hockey Association: The Toronto Toros beat the Cleveland Crusaders, 3-1 at the Varsity Arena in Toronto.

December 11, 1973: The César Cedeño Incident

December 11, 1973: César Cedeño, considered by some observers to be the best all-around player in baseball at the moment, is arrested for murder.

He was born on February 25, 1951 in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. The center fielder debuted with the Houston Astros in 1970. In 1972, he made the All-Star Game, and won a Gold Glove, each for the 1st time. He batted .320 with 22 home runs with 82 RBIs and 55 stolen bases. In 1973, he was again named to the All-Star Game, batting .320 again, hitting 25 home runs runs, with 70 RBIs, 56 stolen bases, and another Gold Glove.

Willie Mays, the greatest combination of power and speed in baseball history, was retiring. Many observers were looking to Cedeño as, possibly, "the next Willie Mays." Playing his home games in the pitcher-friendly Astrodome, he wasn't going to match Mays for power. But, with the dome having artificial turf, he could have been expected to put up better speed numbers.

After the 1973 season, he retired to his hometown of Santo Domingo with his wife, Cora. On December 9, he called the police to report a robbery, saying that $5,000 worth of his jewelry had been stolen from his room at the Keko Motel, where he was staying. He accused two prostitutes of stealing the money. A seedy motel on a shady side of town, with $5,000 worth of jewelry, and hookers were involved, with his wife back home? It seemed suspicious.

Two days later, he was spotted enjoying the local nightlife with a 19-year-old woman named Altagracia de la Cruz. They went back to Cedeño's room at the Keko at 2:00 AM, and were heard arguing. Cedeno, already visibly drunk, called the front office to order beer. A few minutes, later a gunshot was heard. Right after that, Cedeño was seen getting into his vehicle and leaving. But before he did, he yelled out to a motel employee that there was a dead woman in his room. The police were called, and de la Cruz was found with a bullet in her head.

The next morning, Cedeño turned himself in. The story he told was that de la Cruz was curious about the gun, and tried to take it from him. (So why did he have the gun in the first place/) The gun "accidentally fired when he tried to take it away from her." He was charged with voluntary manslaughter.

The Astros sent down a pack of associates, including their general manager, Harold "Spec" Richardson. Things moved fast: The charge was reduced to involuntary manslaughter. Then came, rather quickly, the trial. Cedeño's legal team said that, “Police paraffin tests had shown that the gun was indeed fired by Miss de la Cruz." But they don’t have evidence of any of these tests. There are no tests admitted to court, yet the police said they did the tests. The judge found Cedeño guilty of involuntary manslaughter. The sentence: A $100 fine and time served. No additional jail time, no community service, no counseling sessions. He just paid $100, and then flew back to Houston with the Astro employees.

This was in a foreign country, and there was no ESPN or CNN to cover it 24 hours a day, so the American media did not obsess over it. Many Americans never even heard about the case. And Bowie Kuhn, the Commissioner of Baseball? A man always willing to benefit the team owners and stick it to the players, over issues grand and petty? He did nothing. No ban. No suspension. Not even a fine. Perhaps Kuhn realized that Cedeño hadn't embarrassed baseball, and that making a big deal out of his actions would. Regardless of why Kuhn did nothing, the story was allowed to drift away.

In 1974, Cedeño batted just .269, but had career highs in home runs, with 26, and RBIs, with 102. He stole 57 bases, a career high at that point. He was again named to the All-Star Game, and was again awarded a Gold Glove. He was still, along with Reggie Jackson of the Oakland Athletics, Johnny Bench of the Cincinnati Reds, and Bobby Bonds of the San Francisco Giants, considered one of the best players in baseball.

His power stats dropped a little the next few seasons, but his batting average rose, and in 1977, he stole a career-high 61 bases. He was now 26 years old, a 4-time All-Star and a 5-time Gold Glove, with 1,241 hits, including 171 home runs, and 374 stole bases. It looked like he was on his way to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

But he never achieved the kind of stardom that had been expected. Fans stopped voting for him for the All-Star Game. Maybe stories about his back-home activities had become rumors they couldn't ignore. In 1980, he batted .309 with 10 homers, 73 RBIs and 48 stolen bases, and helped the Astros reach the postseason for the 1st time, coming within 1 run of their 1st Pennant. But he certainly wasn't the next Willie Mays anymore.

After the 1981 season, the Astros traded him to the Reds for 3rd baseman Ray Knight. Late in the 1985 season, the Reds traded him to the St. Louis Cardinals for a minor-leaguer. He played out the season with the Cards, and his contract ran out. After washing out of 1986 Spring Training with the Toronto Blue Jays, he signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers, played 37 games with them, and was released. He soon signed with the Cardinals, but was released without playing.

At the age of 22, he was considered the most exciting player in baseball. At 25, he was still an All-Star. At 31, he was still capable of batting .289 over a full season. At 35, he was done. He went on to bat .285, collected 2,087 hits including 199 home runs, and steal 550 bases. But he never became the all-time great people thought he would. He failed to get enough of the Hall of Fame vote in his first time on the ballot to stay on it. The Astros have elected him to their team Hall of Fame, but have never retired his Number 28. 

In 1988, having divorced Cora, he found a new girlfriend, Pamela Lamon. He was charged with assault, causing bodily injury, and resisting arrest. In 1992, Cedeño was charged with battery in Orlando, Florida, in an incident involving Lamon, who was then pregnant.

He briefly worked as a coach in the minor-league systems of the Astros and the Washington Nationals, and in the Winter leagues in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela. But after his last game as a player, he has never again worn a major league uniform.

*

December 11, 1973 was a Tuesday. This was also the day that Johnny Carson made a remark on The Tonight Show that caused a toilet paper shortage in America.

Baseball was out of season. Football was in midweek. There were no games played in the ABA, but there were 7 in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Phoenix Suns, 105-97 at Madison Square Garden.

* The Buffalo Braves beat the Atlanta Hawks, 132-127 in overtime at The Omni in Atlanta. Bob McAdoo scored 37 points. Lou Hudson scored 40 in defeat.

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 101-100 in overtime at the Cleveland Arena. Jerry West scored 32 points in defeat.

* The Golden State Warriors beat the Houston Rockets, 114-107 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena. Despite the Warriors' loss, Cazzie Russell led all scorers on the night with 49 points.

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Kansas City-Omaha Kings, 105-104 at the Chicago Stadium.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 130-91 at the Milwaukee Exposition and Convention Center Arena, a.k.a. The MECCA (now the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena).

* And the Capital Bullets (who became the Washington Bullets the next season and the Washington Wizards in 1997) beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 87-82 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum.

There were 4 games in the NHL:

* The New York Islanders beat the California Golden Seals, 6-3 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The Minnesota North Stars beat the Los Angeles Kings, 6-3 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 7-3 at the St. Louis Arena.

* And the Montreal Canadiens and the Vancouver Canucks played to a tie, 2-2 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.

And there was 1 game in the World Hockey Association: The Minnesota Fighting Saints beat the Chicago Cougars, 5-3 at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago.

December 7, 1973: The Piniella-McDaniel Trade

December 7, 1973: The Yankees trade pitcher Lyndall "Lindy" McDaniel to the Kansas City Royals for outfielder Lou Piniella.

This was a rarity in baseball: A great trade for both teams. With Sparky Lyle now the main man out of the Yankee bullpen, McDaniel, then approaching his 38th birthday, had become surplus to requirements in Pinstripedom. In Kansas City, he only pitched 2 more seasons, but he mentored their young pitchers, including Dennis Leonard, Paul Splittorff, Doug Bird and Steve Mingori. Without that tutelage, the Royals never would have made the postseason 6 times in 10 years between 1976 and 1985.

As for Lou: When he reported to Spring Training at Fort Lauderdale, Florida in March 1974, he was met by team owner George Steinbrenner. George didn't have a crewcut himself, but he hated long hair. And Lou had long hair. George told him to get a haircut.

Lou was no dummy: He told George that many great figures in history had long hair, including Jesus. George was no dummy, either: He had a response ready. He said, "Come with me." They walked over to the hotel pool, and George pointed: "Walk across that pool. If you can, you can keep your long hair."

Lou got a haircut. Well, he may have cited the central figure in the Bible (other than God Himself), but he didn't lose his strength like Samson. For the next 11 seasons, Lou batted .295 as a Yankee -- .291 overall for his career. He peaked at .330 in 1977. He was never a big home run hitter, but 7 times he had at least 68 RBIs in a season.

He always seemed to step up his game late in the season, terrorizing the Boston Red Sox (especially in the comeback year of 1978), the Royals (batting .305 in 5 ALCS) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (batting .319 in 4 World Series). In his 10 full seasons, the Yankees reached the postseason 5 times and nearly did so 2 others; without him, they didn't make it between 1964 and 1995.

He is now best known as a manager. Although he couldn't get the Yankees into the postseason despite close calls in 1986, 1987 and 1988, he managed the Cincinnati Reds to the 1990 World Championship, the Seattle Mariners to their 1st 4 postseason appearances (1995, 1997, 2000 & 2001), and led the Chicago Cubs to back-to-back postseasons (2007-08).

Last week, he missed being elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame as a manager, by 1 vote. Chosen instead was Jim Leyland, whose postseason success rests on the steroid-boosted shoulders of Gary Sheffield (1997 Florida Marlins) and Iván Rodríguez (2006 Detroit Tigers). Sweet Lou never had to cheat.

*

December 7, 1973 was a Friday. Baseball was out of season. Football was in midweek. There were 7 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Buffalo Braves, 113-108 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium. Dave DeBusschere, in what turned out to be his last season, had maybe his best game, scoring 41 points and grabbing 21 rebounds.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Atlanta Hawks, 116-112 at the Boston Garden.

* The Kansas City-Omaha Kings beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 113-102 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 96-91 at the Cleveland Arena.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 116-86 at the Milwaukee Exposition & Convention Center Arena, a.k.a. The MECCA.

* The Phoenix Suns beat the Capital Bullets (they renamed themselves the Washington Bullets the next season), 114-92 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix. Charlie Scott led all pro scorers on the night with 40 points.

* And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 115-111 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

There were 5 games in the American Basketball Association:

* The New York Nets beat the Memphis Tams, 138-102 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The Carolina Cougars beat their arch-rivals, the Virginia Squires, 115-110 at the Greensboro Coliseum.

* The Indiana Pacers beat their arch-rivals, the Kentucky Colonels, 105-97 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum (now the Corteva Coliseum) in Indianapolis.

* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Denver Rockets (they became the Nuggets a year later), 116-94 at the HemisFair Arena in San Antonio.

* And the Utah Stars beat the San Diego Conquistadors, 121-113 at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City.

There were 3 games played in the NHL:

* The Detroit Red Wings and the St. Louis Blues played to a 1-1 tie at the St. Louis Arena.

* The California Golden Seals beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-3 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.

* And the Atlanta Flames beat the Vancouver Canucks, 2-0 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.

And there were 2 games in the World Hockey Association. The Minnesota Fighting Saints beat the Vancouver Blazers, 3-1 at the St. Paul Civic Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. And the Winnipeg Jets beat the Toronto Toros, 7-4 at the Winnipeg Arena.

December 5, 1973: Paul McCartney Releases "Band On the Run"

December 5, 1973: Band On the Run by Wings is released. It remains the best album led by any of the ex-Beatles.

The only constant members of Wings were Paul and Linda McCartney, and lead guitarist Denny Laine. Wings' rhythm guitarist? Paul. Wings' bass guitarist? Paul. Wings' piano player? Paul. Wings' drummer? Paul. Who played those instruments on tour? Nobody: Wings didn't tour in support of the album.

On the cover of the album are the McCartneys and Laine; plus singer Kenny Lynch, actors James Coburn and Christopher Lee, broadcasters Michael Parkinson and Clement Freud (grandson of Sigmund), and boxer John Conteh.

The 1st 2 tracks, the title track and "Jet" were big rockers and hits. They were followed by "Bluebird." Not one of Paul's better songs, not even as good as "Blackbird" on The Beatles (a.k.a. The White Album). Pablo Picasso had died earlier in the year, and Paul wrote a song titled "Picasso's Last Words (Drink to Me)."

The album was closed with "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five." At first, it sounds post-apocalyptic, until you realize that it's a love song from Paul to Linda: "Oh, no one ever left alive in nineteen hundred and eighty-five, will ever do. She may be right, she may be fine. She may get love, but she won't get mine, 'cause I got you." Basically, it's a harder-rocking "When I'm 64." (Paul was 31 years old in 1973, 53 in 1985, and 64 in 2008.)

*

December 5, 1973 was a Wednesday. Baseball was out of season. Football was in midweek. There were 6 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Boston Celtics, 119-97 at the Boston Garden.

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 89-75 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Buffalo Braves beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 114-110 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium. Bob McAdoo of the Braves led all scorers in both leagues with 37 points.

* The Houston Rockets beat the Capital Bullets, 119-99 at the Hofheinz Pavilion (now the Fertitta Center) in Houston. This was the Bullets' 1st season after moving down the Baltimore-Washington Parkway. The "Capital Bullets" name didn't catch on, so, the next season, they became the Washington Bullets; in 1997, the Washington Wizards.

* The Kansas City-Omaha Kings beat the Atlanta Hawks, 117-105, in 1 of 3 games the Kings played at the Omaha Civic Auditorium that season. Jimmy Walker, who had taken Providence College to the NCAA Final Four the season before, led the Kings with 29 points. He was not related to Jimmie Walker, soon to begin starring on Good Times. "Pistol" Pete Maravich scored 35 and "Super" Lou Hudson 32 in defeat for the Hawks.

* And the Phoenix Suns beat the Golden State Warriors, 103-97 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.

There were 2 games in the American Basketball Association. The New York Nets beat the Indiana Pacers, 108-103 at the Indiana State Fair Coliseum (now the Corteva Coliseum) in Indianapolis. Larry Kenon of the Nets scored 25 points. George McGinnis of the Pacers scored 19 points and grabbed 33 rebounds.

And the Denver Rockets beat the San Diego Conquistadors, 138-108 at the Denver Auditorium Arena.

There were 4 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers beat the St. Louis Blues, 5-1 at Madison Square Garden.

* The Chicago Black Hawks beat the Detroit Red Wings, 8-2 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit.

* The Los Angeles Kings beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-1 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

* And the Atlanta Flames and the California Golden Seals played to a tie, 3-3 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.

And there were 3 games in the World Hockey Association:

* The Jersey Knights lost to the Houston Aeros, 5-2 at the Sam Houston Coliseum in Houston.

* The Winnipeg Jets beat the Edmonton Oilers, 3-1 at the Winnipeg Arena.

* And the Toronto Toros beat the Vancouver Blazers, 3-1 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.